This invention relates to paper shredders and in particular paper shredders that produce paper having different shapes or edge profiles.
Packaging of items is particularly important in the retail market. In particular it is important to have a packing material that both protects the product and looks attractive. Historically products were packaged and sold in boxes and they were packed with tissue paper or other packing material. More recently, open gift boxes, gift bags and gift baskets have become popular and the aesthetic appearance of the packaging material used therein has gained importance.
Shredded paper is well know as a packing material, particularly with open gift boxes, gift bags and gift baskets. More recently shredded paper that is folded or crimped has been used and has been suggested as an alternative to flat shredded paper. The advantage of the folded shredded paper over the flat shredded paper is that generally less paper is used during packing process. In addition the folded shredded paper is advantageous in regard to gift bags because it provides interest in regard to the presentation or the aesthetic appeal of the gift item. This is particularly advantageous in regard to a gift bag or a gift basket.
Folded shredded paper, however, has been available in the retail gift market for approximately ten years. Specifically one of the early patents for folded shredded paper, namely U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,352 issued to Parker on Dec. 22, 1992, was filed on Jun. 14, 1990. Although much work has been done to streamline the process for producing folded shredded paper, few new alternatives have been suggested, particularly alternatives that would be of interest to retail packages.
Particularly in the retail market it is important to have a packaging product that can be distinctive to a specific retailer. This may be done either by the colours that are used or by the shape that are used. With the exception of folded shredded paper heretofore shredded paper with different shapes or edge profiles was not available. Accordingly it is advantageous to provide shredded paper that has different shapes or edge profiles.
The present invention is a paper shredder for cutting sheet material and it includes a first and second blade, and a sheet feeding assembly. The first blade has a cutting edge along one side thereof and the cutting edge has a non-straight profile. The second blade has a cutting edge that meshes with the cutting edge of the first blade and the first and second blades are movable relative to each other. There is a mechanism for moving the first and second blade, relative to each other. The sheet feeding assembly moves the sheet material towards the first and second blade such that the direction of motion is generally orthogonal to each cutting edge. The paper shredder may include a plurality of rotating blades. The cutting edge profile may have a variety of shapes, including a zig zag, a wave or a combination thereof.
Another aspect of the invention is packing material that includes a plurality of pieces of shredded generally planar sheet material. Each piece has two elongate outside edges with non-straight profiles. The edge profiles may have a variety of shapes including zig zag, waves or a combination thereof.
Further features of the invention will be described or will become apparent in the course of the following detailed description.